I crocheted a Colts hat for my nephew, and it really needed a horseshoe! This is an extra large pumpkin, and chaining 40 makes one giant horseshoe! Luckily, you can crochet this embellishment really quick. I couldn’t waste the effort, so I used some pins and attached it to a pumpkin. 🙂

The very sweet ladies of the Prayer Shawl and Knitting Ministry at All Saints Catholic Church in Dallas tried to teach me to knit. I fumbled, tangled and banged those knitting needles until they told me to go home and just practice. They sent me home with the materials I needed to make the shawl, which will be given to a cancer patient going through chemotherapy.

Even with You Tube, I am not able to teach myself the coordination needed to knit. Thank goodness I found this crochet book at the library! It has been heavy on my heart to use my crochet talent for a good cause. I encourage any crocheter to think about making a shawl/wrap/blanket and donating it to a charity or ministry you believe in.

Good morning! I wanted to share an update on my WIP (work in progress) big sister kit. My gift deadline is by Halloween and I will give this gift in person! Daniel’s youngest sister is getting married and we will see the whole family again.

It’s been four months since our wedding, and I miss our family! I can’t wait to see everyone and give lots of hugs. I need an Aunt Nana fix! I love being an aunt.

The big sister kit includes a crochet blanket, baby doll burp cloths, a sock monkey hat and two crochet head hands (crown and bow tie). I’m still working on the little details. All items are handmade crochet or sewing projects. What do you think?

Big brother + little brother hats for my nephews

With windy fall weather approaching in Indiana, a set of handmade hats for my nephews seemed to be the perfect gift. Now that I have the hang of crocheting, it really doesn’t take long to make them! I encourage anyone desiring to learn to crochet to watch tutorials on You Tube. Even my grandmother, who was an expert level crocheter, could not teach me to crotchet. It was frustrating! With video tutorials, I can rewind and pause the videos to learn at my own pace.

My oldest nephew, Sean, can’t wait to get his mohawk in the mail this week! We had a little Sean and Aunt Nana time via FaceTime this weekend, and he was so excited about this gift. Seeing him smile so BIG made my day.

It is difficult being a long distance aunt. When I lived in Indiana, Mr. Cooper and I spent many weekends with our nephews for family time. This is a huge transition for me not having them in the same town. Little gifts from the heart never hurt or spoiled anyone! I miss them so much, and at least I have crochet to help with making awesome gifts to remind my family how special they are to me.

Most people know that I am a beginning crocheter, and my best work comes from watching videos rather than following a pattern. Yesterday, I tried out this free You Tube Video tutorial for a Girl Sock Monkey Beanie by Sabrina at Havoc Mayhem Creations. So stinking cute! There are four videos.

Unlike the tutorial, I fashioned my own eyes instead of sewing on real buttons. I would rather not put buttons on a wearable for a little one. The last thing I would want is for a young one to choke from wearing my creation. I crocheted the eyes instead by making a smaller version of the ears and dabbing the middle with a criss cross of brown yarn.

This pattern also calls for a flower on the monkey’s head. I have yet to crotchet a pretty flower (mighty frustrating). I’ll keep working on it. This really did not take that long to make.

Also, I made this beanie way too small for my niece Alexa, but this doesn’t mean I can’t try again!

Like this:

One way to build family relationships is to always have a plan for fun activities during family time. When I worked in behavioral health, I heard a lot of complaints of “I’m bored,” or “There is nothing to do.” They were families reaching out for help on how to build better relationships, learn positive coping skills and communication skills. So, I came up with my seasonal family activities ideas on a binder ring. The photo above is an example of the ideas I made for my family using left over seasonal paper and stickers from my scrapbook stash.

Here is what you need:

Any kind of paper (it doesn’t have to be expensive scrapbook paper)

A hole punch

4 binder rings

Your imagination

Art supplies you have around the house

Glue or glue sticks

I divided my family activities by season because there are certain things you cannot do at different times of the year. It also helps with focusing and not to be side tracked by ideas you couldn’t possibly do (i.e. go trick or treating in April).

Have a brainstorming session with your family. Set out the paper and art supplies. Let creativity and imagination take over. The ideas do not have to be expensive! You may be surprised at what your family likes to do! Write it all down. Draw art for the idea. Use stickers to illustrate the activity. The sky really is the limit on this project. It does not have to be perfect, only perfect for your family.

You could also start new family traditions and add to your binder ring. You can throw away an idea that really didn’t work. This is the beauty of the binder ring. Plus, if you have a growing family…there will be new activities to do!